USC-Oregon State Report Card

MEDIA COVERAGE

We were one play awaying from taking this game into overtime with all the momentum on our side. This season is not over. Did you even watch the fourth quarter?

D

DISAPPOINTMENT! We lost because of BAD COACHING!.. we have the horses,..BAD COACHING!...

'special teams' Yep,..'special' teams for the other side!.. on the punt return, saw Rey get blocked out (don't they talk out there?) Dallas and Brian out of control and missed ARM tackles!,.. yep 1st stringers out there,..but our 'special-team' COACHING stinks!

Defense- As good as Brian is,..Should Rey not be in the game when Oscar is in?..Isn't rey more physical than Brian? Did I See an improvement in our defense? 6 games into the season, and a week off,..and NO improvement,..except maybe the fact that more 4,3 alignments than the failed 3,4; it was obvious our coaches don't know how to coach a 3, 4. We miss Josh BIG TIME!...Our defense COACHING (new D coach Nick Holt D-coordinator and D-line coach-hummm seems to be where the problem is) leaves a lot to be desired!,.. Not experienced to do the job! Pete should become more active here. You hire a person to do the job, but when they are not succeeding,..you assist as needed. Nick needs to be assisted BIG TIME!

Offense- the play calling SUCKS! the last play, oh yeah,..Booty gets the pass 'tipped' ..surprise .. NO DE penetration on that play because they thought we were going to run it to that side as we had done on the previous 2 point conversion. soo, why wasn't Booty rolling out?...given more options???.. we'd see Matt roll out all the time in that situation ,..just gives the q-back more options,.. there were others,..but our Offensive COACHING SUCKS..,, hind sight,..doesn't Booty get a lot of passes knocked down?...shouldn't he be rolling out more to get more open passing lanes? Last year you had Matt, Reggie and Lindale,..play calling did NOT matter,...Offensive play calling Sucks!

Pete,..you need to get more involved in the coaching of the players,...we are sinking! The players are not being given the opportunity to excell!.. On both sides of the line, our play calling SUCKS!

C'mon Pete you got to adjust defense:

Malauga is not the smart leader you need to play the middle. Put Oscar back in the middle.

Have Malauga play the elephant position. Move Cushing behind Sartz, or alternate them.

Bring in the corners, and stop protecting Mays, he's got to learn on the job.

I don't want to sound like an apologist, but the most costly error on Saturday was first and foremost the drive killing penalty at the start of the third quarter. Without that penalty SC probably scores and takes the lead. Huge momentum swing.

The PR was huge, but I wonder why the block on Maaluga was not flagged. I know that whenever a blocker's helmet is behind the player, it is an illegal block. Rey also landed on his belly, another tell tale sign of an illegal block. We may or may not stop that drive, but a big call nonetheless.

Maybe all you pretenders can donate your SC gear to the needy and You can by your Big 10 Gear and move to the lovely mid-west. Go Rutgers!

Can't argue with these grades much, except I'd Give Booty a D even with the 4th quarter comeback as much of that time he was throwing against DB's 15 yards off the line of scrimmage

Valid comments. Best point is the week to week improvement, or lack there of. For the first time, it looks like we're almost getting worse, not better each week. This was supposed to be the breakout week due to an additional week of healing & scheeming. We're showing virtually no improvement, with perhaps exception to finally getting some longer passes... which I doubt we would have seen if we wern't in such a deep hole.

We're really missing some coaching here. The second half adjustments just aren't there. We miss norm, or a more experienced OC. And I think Carrol not running the D for the first time is evident. And why the F can't we get special teams & coach worth a lick? That punt return was awful!!! there was no one even there after the first guy!

To the positives: I think this loss actually does the team good. Plus, I'D RATHER THE STREAK END W/ OREGON ST. THAN CAL/UCLA. It takes away the extra motivation... plus, I think the team AND the coaches thought they were better than they actually were/are. This opens their eyes a bit. They kept saying how they were so close to 'breaking it open', when really, they were so close to 'losing 3 games to good but not great teams.

RE Booty and the C+: The interception was should be held against DJ, not Booty. If he makes any type of effort, its at best a TD, at worst an incomplete. DJ half-assed it.

RE D-Line: Isn't the D-line supposed to get sacks and keep the running game in check? If they do that, should they not at least be in the B range.

Everything else was right on the money although I don't think there is a grade low enough for the secondary.

The Trojans came on to the field knowing they would win this one. "I loved the comeback, but we aren't patting ourselves on the back," coach Pete Carroll said. "We thought we were going to win all the way until we didn't." Oregon knew coming onto the field that the Trojans had escaped by the skin off their teeth in the previous weeks. I think the Beavers came onto the field knowing they had a good chance at damming the Trojan's season.

chauncey deserves a "code red" and a dutch rub for that performance....not sure who going to administer the penalty however....how about you scott...???

DJ always looks so surprised when a d-back jumps in front of him and intercepts a pass. He has to learn to knock those passes down or fight for them a bit more.

To respectthegame:

Rey was not blocked in the back. Rey turned to take the guy head on and show how tough he is but he wiffed. Instead of running by the guy and going for the return man. If he had run right by he probably would have drawn a penalty.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Get a grip bandwagon fans. While Scott's grades are on the money this week, I am sick of all of the whining this month (not necessarily this post with the exception of the obvious) about how awful SC is and how poor a coaching job Carrol is doing. SC just lost the equivalent of an All-Star team to the NFL with Bush, White, Matty, Bing, Justice, Deuce, etc. leaving for the pros and SC is still 6-1.

It is amazing how quickly you people forget the Hacket and J-Rob II days...but you were probably Miami or Nebraska fans back then.

Next time you are about to complain, stop and look at what SC has done under Carrol: 3 out of 4 Heismans, and have won 54 out of 57 Games (which include some ridiculous stats and streaks). With SC's 3 losses over their last 57 Games having been: 1) a loss in Triple O.T. to Cal, on the road; 2) a loss in the National Championship Game, the 3rd Nat. Champ. Game in a row and 4th BCS game in a row, to Vince Young; and 3) a loss by a young, developing team, on the last play of the Game, on the road to a hungry Oregon State squad.

Boo Hoo...if you don't trust Coach Carrol or like his results (which also include 3 consecutive #1 recruiting classes), go jump on the Ohio State or Florida bandwagon. Pretty much every college fan in the country is envious of SC and would switch places with our success under Carrol.

I guess if SC goes 12-1 or 11-2 during a "rebuilding year" we should run Carrol out of town.

Fight On!

At this stage of the season, the problem is less about the plays being called and more about poor execution. Which still is a coaching issue. The team on both sides of the ball are making far to many fundamental errors. A sign of poor preparation and a shakey confidence. Back to the basics would seem appropriate. Vince Lombardi, during a bad run, addressed similar problems by demanding of his team a renewed understanding of fundamental football. To make his point, he began the next practice by presenting the team with a ball and exclaimed " Gentleman, this is a football". Not a bad place to begin! Fight On!

I just started reading this blog a few weeks ago so I'm just now becoming familiar with some of the characters that post on here regularly...I'm wondering about those of you who are calling for Carroll to take over the defensive coordinator duties. What were you guys saying last year when he was calling the defensive plays and the D sucked?

One of the most fundamental things a QB should do even before finding a receiver, making a good toss, or making the right call at the LOS is to learn how to take a snap

If there is a problem with the center then he needs to make sure he's in sync with the center.

I find it 100% unacceptable that JDB has lost a fumble two weeks in a row.. on that alone he gets a D

Hey Greg....wrong place to ask!

A better place to ask would be at a sportsbar or something.

These guys are ALL HOMERS....they can't see things clearly.

Ever hear the phrase that "love is blind?"?

Well these sunshine pumpers are clearly one-sided homers who only see the good of things, or rather, hope for the best to happen. They think of PC as GOD, and they all think PC is RIGHT and cannot do anything wrong.

Typical responses sound something like this: "Do you remember the Hackett days?"

"At least we are not Miami!"

"In Pete we trust"

...and a whole bunch of crap like that.

In reality, SC is Miami west and is in a downfall, as stated by more realistic fans, since the REAL coaches left (Chow, O, TD)

Just wondering, how many championships has SC won or will SC win since Norm Chow left? ZERO!

There is a reason that Carroll was fired from the NFL....his true colors are now showing without Chow here. Hey Pete, like to take all the credit, eh?

Running Norm out of town will be your downfall!

Chow>Carroll

nuff' said

Hey we're fine. I still smell Roses. So come on Trojan fan FIGHT ON!!!! They were great coaches when they won there first two BCS Championship. Now we lost they suck. Maybe our FANS SUCK?

Steve4SC,

You know what...I am going to stop being a HOMER right now. After reading your post, I have really been enlightened by your amazing takes. You are 100% right on the money. USC IS on a downward spiral and we must right the ship NOW. Post-Chow we went to a National Championship game...and lost, have lost 2 games (18-2 in 1 ½ seasons) and have had two straight #1 recruiting classes. We must stop supporting this team and trusting Carrol for fear of being a HOMER and in order to end the downward spiral.

Steve4SC is right, USC must return to the glory we had under Chow. I mean SC has not won a single National Championship in the 1 ½ seasons since his departure...it has been too long! Therefore, if we do not win the National Championship AND Booty does not win the Heisman this year, we definitely need to fire Carrol and his coaching staff, and forget about all of the All-Americans that we are presently developing b/c they are garbage and will never make it to the pros b/c Norm is no longer here.

BandwagonSteve4USC>Chow>Einstein>Carrol>USC Homers

Nuff Said.

For Steve4SC;
You sound like one of those hopefuls on the other side of town,.. go hug a bear or,..Better yet,.. Hug your great coach Dorrell...HA!..what a loser,..both of you! your coach and YOU!
Pete Carroll is about the best thing that has happened to USC football and College football in general!.. Norm was good, no doubt, but even BYU didn't want him back,..no personality! Great Offensive coach no doubt.
Pete is a GREAT COACH~! and the record will show he is one of the best, and in the college ranks he will probably be ranked as one of the best college coaches of ALL time.. He relates well with the players, they seem to be having fun, intense and hates to lose. He seems to love the GAME, and has a great time on the field. He is a true student of the GAME, I just believe that he has given up to much responsibility to young coaches that are NOT ready (yet) to take on the load he (Pete) has relinquished.
USC "is on the downfall",..this is where you show your true colors you brown, four footed, furry, cream puff, poser...GO BACK TO Westwood!
As for fired by the NFL,..their loss...USC's GAIN!

FIGHT ON!

If I got the marks these guys deserved my father would of beat my As*......